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October 14, 2025
 

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MANUFACTURING

Industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 31, 2025
Factory output gain in Japan shows firms’ resilience amid tariffs
Though economists had expected a 0.8% loss, industrial production gained 1.7% from the previous month while output rose 4% from a year earlier, topping expectations of a 1.3% gain.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) shakes hands with economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, at the Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka on July 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 28, 2025
Japan expects only 1% to 2% of $550 billion U.S. fund to be investment
The bulk of the fund, agreed as part of Japan's trade deal with the U.S., will consist of loans, says chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 26, 2025
Trump tariffs leave costly China supply question unanswered
The U.S. president has threatened to rocket rates up to 40% for products deemed to be transshipped, or re-routed, through Southeast Asia.
A boy and his father walk through the toy section of Walmart in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 29, 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2025
Toy makers nix batteries and other materials to save costs amid tariff war
The duties imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump are particularly painful for companies like Hasbro and Mattel, as 80% of toys sold in the U.S. come from China.
A member of staff works on a production line that manufactures small metal coils at Mitsuwa Electric in Tokyo on July 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan's smaller firms say they are ready to adapt to Trump tariffs
Millions of small- and medium-sized firms that make up 99.7% of Japan's companies are world-class in their specialist niche, giving rise to confidence about weathering tariffs.
Mazda employees walk at the company's main plant in the town of Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan voters see little hope for tariff reprieve in carmaker Mazda's hometown
The economic engine of Hiroshima Prefecture faces U.S. tariffs of 25% on cars, a dispiriting prospect for an electorate already battling inflation.
The Nissan Motor Oppama Plant in Yokosuka. The company will wind down production at the plant and transfer assembly of vehicles to a factory in Kyushu.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025
Nissan to close Oppama plant as part of wider restructuring push
Oppama, which has been in operation since 1961 and employs roughly 2,400 workers, will cease production by March 2028.
Orders from the automobile and auto parts industries decreased 7.1% in May after a 20.3% drop the previous month.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 14, 2025
Japan core machinery orders down 0.6% in May
The government kept its basic assessment unchanged, saying that machinery orders are showing signs of picking up.
Copper rods are wound at a workshop that recycles the metal in Anqing, China, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 12, 2025
Trump's copper tariffs pile more metal misery on U.S. auto industry
The duties on their own may be manageable, but prices of the red metal vital for making cars have soared to record highs.
The Maruti Suzuki India e-Vitara during the Bharat Mobility Global Expo in New Delhi in January
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2025
Suzuki is becoming a top Japan importer with made-in-India cars
Suzuki beat out Mercedes-Benz to become Japan’s top car importer in June, thanks to the Jimny Nomad and another popular small SUV assembled in India.
A worker installs part of a business-class aircraft seat at the factory of Safran Seats GB in Cwmbran, South Wales, Britain, on Feb. 20.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 3, 2025
Airline seat industry crisis delaying jet deliveries
Certification bottlenecks and growing demand for bespoke features make it hard for the fragmented sector to achieve economies of scale after the pandemic.
The Bank of Japan's latest <i>tankan</i> survey beat consensus forecasts as the economy held up better than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 1, 2025
Large Japanese companies surprisingly optimistic as U.S. tariffs bite 
In the tankan survey, automakers and smaller companies were relatively pessimistic.
Nissan will begin talks this week to seek job cuts at its Sunderland plant in Britain.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2025
Nissan says it will seek voluntary job cuts at U.K. plant
Nissan said the move was aimed at increasing the efficiency of the Sunderland plant in northeastern England to make it a "leaner, more flexible" operation.
Japan's factory output in May fell 1.8% from a year earlier, missing expectations of a 1.6% rise.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 30, 2025
Japan’s factory output misses expectations as U.S. tariffs hit
Industrial production increased 0.5% from the previous month, the industry ministry reported Monday.
Pat Gelsinger (left), former Intel CEO and general partner at Playground Global, and Peter Barrett, co-founder and general partner of Playground, in Tokyo on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 27, 2025
Former Intel CEO Gelsinger has some advice for Japan's Rapidus
He encourages the chipmaker to distinguish itself in some way from TSMC.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator (left), meets with Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2025
Japan needs a big, beautiful trade deal with the United States
A creative solution along the lines of the U.S. Steel "golden share" has been suggested.
An electric motor, jointly developed by Honda and Daido Steel, for hybrid cars that uses no heavy rare earth metals is displayed at an unveiling in Tokyo in July 2016.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025
Honda supplier rethinks China relationship as trade war bites
For Daido Steel, the trade war has meant renewing a push to build rare earth supply routes outside of China.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto leaves a news conference, at which he discussed the acquisition of United States Steel, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025
Nippon Steel completes U.S. Steel acquisition after 18-month slog
The firm now owns all the stock of the American steel-maker, other than a "golden share" that gives the U.S. government a degree of control
Workers pack bathroom fittings in a factory of the Taiwanese-owned LCM Group in Kunshan, China, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2025
Taiwan's entrepreneurs in China feel heat from cross-strait tensions
Safety fears have led many Taiwanese manufacturers to turn to less politically sensitive locales such as Vietnam and Thailand.
U.S. government's "golden share" in U.S. Steel will require the company to obtain approval from the U.S. president before relocating its headquarters from Pittsburgh or changing its name, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 15, 2025
'Golden share' to help U.S. Steel keep name and prevent relocation
The move will also prevent Nippon Steel from transferring production or jobs outside the U.S. without consent of the U.S. president.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Hypothermia in the land of the rising Sanae
Amid the election of Sanae Takaichi as Liberal Democratic Party president, and possibly the next prime minister, Japan's economy shows signs of recovery, but weak wages, a conservative corporate culture and currency issues raise doubts about a true economic thaw.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc collapses, LDP and opposition scramble to find needed votes for PM
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday after leaving the ruling coalition earlier in the day.
What if everything we think about obesity is wrong?
Recent research shows obesity may be driven by ultraprocessed and hyperpalatable foods that disrupt fullness signals and lead to overeating.
A frenetic diplomatic schedule looms for Japan’s next leader — whomever that may be
As horse-trading and speculation surge over who will be elected the next prime minister in parliament — the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Sanae Takaichi or a possible candidate put forward by a unified opposition — Japan’s next leader will be confronted with a quick succession of key diplomatic events.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
At Osaka Expo, gas giants promote a greener future. But is it a lot of hot air?
The Gas Pavilion had welcomed around 500,000 visitors by the end of August, making it one of the most popular exhibits at the Osaka Expo.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Longform

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Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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